Do you feel that? The witching hour approaches, the nights are drawing in, the leaves falling – and Halloween is looming. Which means switching up your seasonal viewing habits, leaving summer blockbuster season behind, and getting into the scare-zone. But what if the thought of a film leaving you in rictus terror leaves you in… well, rictus terror? Fear not – literally. Getting in the Halloween spirit doesn’t necessarily mean mainlining hardcore horror flicks – there are plenty of alternatives for the faint of heart, films that play in the spooky milieu without delivering outright frights.
So, if you’re goosebump-challenged, afraid of the dark, gag over gore, or simply want films that prioritise fun over fear-factor, look no further. Read Empire’s guide to the best spooky (but not scary) films to get you in the mood, packed with pumpkins and ghouls and creatures of the night, with none of the nasty stuff. Bring your own seasonal gourds.
16 Spooky (But Not Scary) Movies To Watch This Halloween — And Where To Stream Them
I Am Frankelda (2026)
Directors: Arturo and Roy Ambriz | Runtime: 1hr 54m | Streaming on: Netflix
Starring: Mireya Mendoza, Arturo Mercado Jr, Luis Leonardo Suárez
Of late, there's been a real dearth of properly creepy but also entirely family-friendly animated movies hitting our screens. Enter Arturo and Roy Ambriz's I Am Frankelda, Mexico's first ever feature-length stop-motion movie. The story of Francisca 'Frankelda' Imelda (first Habana Zoé, later Mireya Mendoza), a frustrated young writer in 19th-century Mexico who turns into a ghost to travel to a fantastical realm where her macabre literary creations live, I Am Frankelda is a phantasmagorical wonder — a dark fantasy musical epic that would defy description if it weren't so thoroughly rammed with fantastical settings and characters you find yourself desperate to shout about. If you're a fan of Guillermo del Toro, Henry Selick, Tim Burton, the great artist Auguste Rodin, or just weird stop-motion movies bursting at the seams with remarkable craftsmanship and heart, then this is for you. And good luck getting 'The Prince Of Spooks' out of yours and your kids' heads after this! Enjoy.
Read Empire's review of I Am Frankelda.
Beetlejuice (1988)
Director: Tim Burton | Runtime: 1hr 32m | Streaming on: HBO Max, Prime Video
Starring: Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Geena Davis, Alec Baldwin, Catherine O'Hara
Tim Burton’s entire career has been predicated on his ability to conjure pure spooky vibes on the big screen, but rarely has it been done with such comic glee as Beetlejuice. This one has death, demons, ghosts, possession, and a ghoul-packed afterlife – but it all plays out like a Halloween party. Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin are the Maitlands, a recently-deceased couple who manifest as ghosts in their beloved Connecticut home. But when the arty Deetz family – including Winona Ryder as goth daughter Lydia – move into their abode and threaten to remodel the entire house, the Maitlands fight back with the help of Michael Keaton’s shape-shifting agent of chaos Beetlejuice (Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice!). The result is a riot of endearingly lo-fi effects, stop-motion sandworm chases, Harry Belafonte dance-alongs, with nary a scare in sight. In future, double-bill it with the equally spooky-not-scary Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
Read Empire's review of Beetlejuice.
Hocus Pocus (1993)
Director: Kenny Ortega | Runtime: 1hr 37m | Streaming on: Disney+
Starring: Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy
For a film that features child murder, traumatic transmogrification, and three hangings inside its opening 12 minutes, it’s remarkable just how nimbly Kenny Ortega’s 1993 perennial Halloween fave Hocus Pocus balances its dark, child-soul-snatching storyline with its campy, fun-for-all-the-family brio. There’s clearly just something about getting to watch Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy run amok (amok, amok, amok, amok, amok!) as the Sanderson Sisters – a trio of 17th century witches unwittingly resurrected in ‘90s Salem by teen Max (Omri Katz) – that never gets old, vacuum brooms, ‘I Put A Spell On You’ musical interlude and all. The less said about the 2022 straight-to-Disney+ sequel the better, but the original – with its gonzo sense of humour and immaculate autumnal atmosphere – remains a bona fide banger.
Read Empire's review of Hocus Pocus.
Wendell & Wild (2022)
Director: Henry Selick | Runtime: 1hr 45m | Streaming on: Netflix
Starring: Jordan Peele, Keegan-Michael Key, Lyric Ross, Ving Rhames, James Hong, Angela Bassett
An inspired collaboration between stop-motion master Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline) and maverick comedy duo Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key, Wendell & Wild - a story of demons both literal and figurative - is child-friendly horror done perfectly. Selick’s film sees troubled teen orphan Kat (Lyric Ross) make a deal with two devils — Wendell (Key) and Wild (Peele) — to bring her parents back from the dead. The rub? She must free them from netherworld overlord Buffalo Belzer (Ving Rhames) and become their Hellmaiden. Yikes! Although, as soon becomes apparent in a valuable early life lesson for all kids, there are worse things on Earth than literal demons — namely the parasitic bourgeois elite. There is *a lot* going on here, as you’d expect from Selick, even without hellish rollercoasters strapped to the devil’s belly. Still, no minor pacing or plot plate-spinning quibbles can stop this punk paean to rebellion and resistance from hitting its well-modulatedly macabre mark.
Read Empire's review of Wendell & Wild.
Addams Family Values (1993)
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld | Runtime: 1hr 34m | Streaming on: Paramount+
Starring: Raul Julia, Anjelica Huston, Christopher Lloyd, Christina Ricci, Joan Cusack
Creepy, kooky, mysterious, and spooky, Barry Sonnenfeld’s follow-up to The Addams Family is that rarest of beasts – a sequel that’s even better than the original. All your ooky chez Addams faves – Raul Julia and Anjelica Huston’s sado-romantic Gomez and Morticia, Christopher Lloyd’s bungling Uncle Fester, Christina Ricci’s devilishly deadpan Wednesday – are back, bringing the Gothic and the camp once again as they welcome (or, more accurately, try to decapitate) mustachioed baby arrival Pubert. The secret weapon this time out however is Joan Cusack, whose mercurial turn as gold digging, Fester-fixated black widow Debbie Jellinsky is not only absolutely iconic (honestly, more villains should give slideshow presentations justifying their parents’ murder), but also serves as a sage reminder that whilst their manner may be unorthodox, you can’t fault the, ahem, Addams family values.
Read Empire's review of Addams Family Values.
Wallace & Gromit: Curse Of The Were-Rabbit (2005)
Directors: Steve Box, Nick Park | Runtime: 1hr 25m | Streaming on: Now TV
Starring: Peter Sallis, Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter, Peter Kay
It took a staggering 2,844.9 kilograms of plasticine (and many, many baby-wipes) to craft Wallace and Gromit’s Oscar-winning feature debut, The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit – and not a single ounce of it went to waste. Almost certainly the only horror film set amid a marrow-measuring competition, Aardman’s stop-motion caper — whose laundry list of genre touchstones includes everything from King Kong, to Frankenstein, to An American Werewolf In London — lovingly homages creature features of yore whilst cleverly taking the format and moulding it (quite literally) into a big old lol-athon. Come for the God-tier puns (“24 carrot” gold bullet and “large rabbit dropping” are chef’s kiss) and Ralph Fiennes’ brilliantly-named antagonist Victor Quartermaine; stay for a claymated masterclass from Britain’s finest. Cracking film, Gromit!
Read Empire's review of Wallace & Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit.
The Adventures Of Ichabod And Mr. Toad (1949)
Directors: Jack Kinney, Clyde Geronimi, James Algar | Runtime: 1hr 10m | Streaming on: Disney+
Starring: Bing Crosby, Basil Rathbone, Eric Blore, Pat O'Malley
Released during the war-affected ‘Package Films’ era of Disney, it’s often forgotten that – once upon a time – the Mouse House tackled the tale of Sleepy Hollow. Don’t worry; there’s no marauding Christopher Walken here. But there is a bouncy evocation of rural American ‘fall’ season, pumpkins galore, jolly Bing Crosby musical numbers, and an entertainingly elastic incarnation of womanising intellectual Ichabod Crane, all contained in a largely faithful telling of Washington Irving’s tale. When the Headless Horseman stuff does kick in, there’s some thrillingly gnarly imagery – but the finale blends that suspense with slapstick, so it’s unlikely to evoke nightmares. At roughly 35 minutes, the ‘Ichabod’ part of Adventures is a quick watch – and the Wind In The Willows section of this two-part feature (the ‘Mr. Toad’ chunk) is another autumnal treat.
Ghostbusters (1984)
Director: Ivan Reitman | Runtime: 1hr 45m | Streaming on: Now TV
Starring: Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Sigourney Weaver, Rick Moranis, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts
It’s always been the way that people feel so fondly towards Ghostbusters, they forget its scarier moments – the library ghost, for one. But largely this remains in the fun-zone, as New York-based parapsychologists Venkman (Bill Murray), Ray (Dan Aykroyd), Egon (Harold Ramis), and Winston (Ernie Hudson) face down exploding eggs, ectoplasm-spewing entities, demon dogs, the ghoulish Gozer – and, most memorably, the marauding Stay-Puft marshmallow man. It may have originated as a major summer hit, but Ghostbusters remains a Halloween favourite for the fright-challenged. Plus, it pairs nicely with sweet adventure-fuelled legacy sequel Ghostbusters: Afterlife, directed by Ivan Reitman’s filmmaker son Jason Reitman.
Read Empire's review of Ghostbusters.
Scooby-Doo (2002)
Director: Raja Gosnell | Runtime: 1hr 27m | Streaming on: Disney+, Prime Video
Starring: Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, Matthew Lillard, Linda Cardellini, Rowan Atkinson, Isla Fisher
When looking for cinematic spookiness, there are few destinations more apt to set sail for than Spooky Island. Critics largely didn’t love Scooby-Doo at the time, but this James Gunn-penned take on the Mystery Machine gang has emerged as a Gen-Z touchstone. That’s not just down to its spot-on casting – Matthew Lillard’s Shaggy and Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Daphne in particular – but its deeply early-‘00s haunted-tiki-room aesthetic. Half tropical hangout, half voodoo vibes, it’s a fun backdrop for a tale that takes in possession, soul-swapping, demonic rituals – and, scariest of all, a gigantic Scrappy-Doo. It’s far from high art, but it gets plenty of mileage from its PG-rated not-exactly-scares. Just like its tagline said: “Be afraid. Be kind of afraid.” The result is the movie equivalent of a skull-shaped disco ball.
Read Empire's review of Scooby-Doo.
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Director: Henry Selick | Runtime: 1hr 16m | Streaming on: Disney+
Starring: Danny Elfman, Chris Sarandon, Catherine O'Hara, Paul Reubens
An animated danse macabre fashioned from the mind of Tim Burton, the music of Danny Elfman, and the stop-motion mastery of director Henry Selick, that The Nightmare Before Christmas has been thrilling — and chilling — moviegoers young and old for over three decades now is unsurprising. There’s an ineffable, timeless quality to Burton’s deliciously Gothic tale, based on a poem the filmmaker wrote whilst working at Disney in the ‘80s, which follows disillusioned Pumpkin King Jack Skellington (Chris Sarandon) as he discovers his own unique brand of festive spirit in Christmas Town. Whilst some of the more morbid elements of Selick’s movie (burlap big-bad Oogie Boogie, the skeleton-saddled Hanging Tree, the Harlequin Demon) may challenge its PG certification, Elfman’s intoxicating musical numbers and Skellington’s poignantly observed outsider narrative keep the heartwarming ratio level. For a chaser, line up the other Burton-affiliated stop-motion spookies: Corpse Bride and Frankenweenie.
Read Empire's review of The Nightmare Before Christmas.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
Director: Jim Sharman | Runtime: 1hr 39m | Streaming on: Disney+
Starring: Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon Barry Bostwick Richard O'Brien Patricia Quinn Little Nell
The clue’s in the title. The Rocky Horror Picture show wears its influences on its sleeve – or, at least, in its opening credits. As its creator Richard O’Brien sings the sublime ‘Science Fiction/Double Feature’, he name-checks a host of sensationalist mid-20th Century B-movies, among them The Day Of The Triffids and The Invisible Man. He bows before them. And while his own film doesn’t set out to frighten, it has a fantastic time in the scary sandbox. O’Brien’s leering manservant Riff Raff is a gloriously gothic, sunken-eyed hunchback. The magnificent ‘castle’ that our two all-American lovebirds Brad and Janet (Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon) find themselves in is, in reality, Berkshire’s Oakley Court, oft utilised by Hammer productions. Rocky himself, a gleaming golden God, is shocked into life by mad scientist Dr Frank-N-Furter who – lest we forget – is a sweet transvestite from a planet called Transsexual in the galaxy of, erm, Transylvania. Not terrifying, but all frightfully fabulous.
Read Empire's review of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Young Frankenstein (1974)
Director: Mel Brooks | Runtime: 1hr 45m | Streaming on: N/A
Starring: Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle, Marty Feldman, Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman
It is a truth universally acknowledged that Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein (or perhaps that should be ‘Young Fronkensteen’) is one of the all-time great comedies. From Gene Wilder’s perfectly pitched turn as the put-upon Dr. Frederick Frankenstein, to the impeccably timed thunder cracks and whinnying horses, to that show-stopping ‘Puttin’ On The Ritz’ performance by Frankenstein and Peter Boyle’s Monster, here’s a movie that passes the six-laugh test within minutes and feels like a full-on ab workout by the time it’s over. But it’s the finer details — the iris transitions, the use of Ken Strickfaden’s 1931 Frankenstein sets — that really highlight Brooks’ genius. Parody at its best is rooted in a sincere affection for the source material, and Young Frankenstein is nothing if not a gushing monochromatic love letter to monster movies.
Read Empire's review of Young Frankenstein.
Death Becomes Her (1992)
Directors: Robert Zemeckis | Runtime: 1hr 44m | Buy/Rent on: Amazon, Apple TV
Starring: Bruce Willis, Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn
Hell truly hath no fury than a woman scorned, beheaded, or with a hole blasted through her midriff. For adult audiences, Robert Zemeckis’ Death Becomes Her is an iconic, camp, Sunset Boulevard-on-steroids comedy where any semblance of fear is rooted in the timeless, terrible treatment of women over a certain age (thankfully co-stars Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn have maintained robust careers well into their seventies). For viewers yet to be concerned by the notion of wrinkles, that lady with her head twisted backwards might haunt a meaty portion of your childhood. The premise is simple: Streep’s fading Hollywood actor Madeline steals away the fiancé (Bruce Willis) of frenemy Helen (Hawn), thus sparking a decades-spanning rivalry involving an anti-ageing potion and much bodily harm. It’s violent and visceral, yes – but it’s lashings of fun.
Read Empire's review of Death Becomes Her.
We Have A Ghost (2023)
Director: Christopher Landon | Runtime: 2hrs 7m | Streaming on: Netflix
Starring: David Harbour, Jahi Di'Allo Winston, Anthony Mackie, Erica Ash, Tig Notaro
For most of his career, Christopher Landon – director of Freaky, and longtime Paranormal Activity penner – has plumped for full-blown horror. But if you’re not quite ready for his (largely blood-free) Happy Death Day slashers, his most recent film is a sweet, spectral coming-of-age movie, in which kid Kevin (Jahi Winston) discovers a David Harbour-shaped ghost in his attic – and promptly gains viral fame when he catches him on camera. Despite the haunted house milieu, the resulting story is an endearing, Amblin-flavoured comedy-adventure, as Kevin and his neighbour Joy (Isabella Russo) attempt to discover what’s keeping ‘Ernest’ (as the non-verbal ghost’s bowling shirt identifies him) earthbound, and attempt to free him into the next life. Most enjoyable? Jennifer Coolidge as bouffant-wigged medium ‘Judy Romano’. A film to file under: ‘I ain’t afraid of no ghost.’
Read Empire's review of We Have A Ghost.
Practical Magic (1998)
Director: Griffin Dunne | Runtime: 1hr 39m | Streaming on: Netflix, Now TV,
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Dianne Wiest, Stockard Channing, Goran Visnjic
It’s a time-old tradition that the second the first leaf of Autumn falls, then – and only then – can you press play on Griffin Dunne’s golden-hued seasonal spooker. Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman star as modern sister witches Sally and Gillian respectively, whose bond is tested when Gillian’s piece-of-work boyfriend Jimmy (Goran Visnjic) makes them murder him, leading to all manner of creepy afterlife happenings. A time capsule for the late ‘90s, from the fashion to the soundtrack (Faith Hill! Bran Van 3000!), this small-town covenly tale clearly still holds up: both Kidman and Bullock recently confirmed that they have signed on for a sequel. Time to whip up another batch of midnight margaritas.
Read Empire's review of Practical Magic.
ParaNorman (2012)
Directors: Chris Butler, Sam Fell | Runtime: 1hr 28m | Streaming on: ITVX
Starring: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Tucker Albrizzi, Anna Kendrick, Casey Affleck, Christopher Mintz-Plasse
The perfect gateway horror for budding genre enthusiasts, Chris Butler and Sam Fell’s 2012 zom-com is a Romero-homaging, B-movie inspired blast. The inherently necromantic art of stop-motion animation is perfectly suited to the story of Norman Babcock (Kodi Smit-McPhee), an 11-year-old outsider whose ability to speak to the dead comes in handy when a centuries-old curse brings zombies (and a witch with a 300-year-old axe to grind) to the town of Blithe Hollow. Visually stunning, wickedly funny, and stuffed to the gills with inspired horror references (there’s not one but two superb, no-notes Halloween nods), it’s impressive really just how much life Butler and Fell bring to their undead tale. Less scary for its brain-munching masses than its stark depiction of the power of mob mentality, ParaNorman remains one of Laika’s best.
Read Empire's review of ParaNorman.